[TL: Godzilla+Magic?! Isn't that too OP!]
"..."
Ancient One's words left Fenris silent for a long while.
When he finally looked up again, all he could see was the strange, unreadable look in her eyes as she gazed back at him.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
After a brief hesitation, he asked the question anyway.
He believed someone like the Ancient One would never waste time spinning an elaborate lie just to deceive him.
"Come with me."
The Ancient One smiled faintly, as though she had known all along that Fenris would make this choice.
With a wave of her hand, sparks burst out of empty space. A spinning portal quickly took shape.
Beyond it, an ancient-looking courtyard appeared before Fenris's eyes.
"Do you want to learn?"
The Ancient One's voice was full of quiet temptation. Fenris nodded without the slightest hesitation.
He had never been particularly interested in learning magic, and he still had his doubts about how destructive close-range spells really were. Even so, he had to admit that abilities like portals and the Mirror Dimension were absurdly practical.
"Follow me."
The portal expanded at once. In the blink of an eye, the two of them were standing inside a spacious reception hall.
"You're back, Master."
As Fenris was looking around, a broad-shouldered Black man stepped in through a side door and politely greeted the Ancient One.
"Mordo."
The Ancient One returned the greeting, then introduced Fenris to him. "This is Fenris."
"Hello, Fenris."
"Hello, Mordo."
Fenris copied his gesture and returned the greeting.
"Fenris, come. Sit."
Once everyone else had left, the Ancient One waved a hand. The surrounding space suddenly rippled with colorful reflections, like light flashing across shattered glass.
"This is the Mirror Dimension. Here, we can study, fight, and even observe others without them ever noticing."
"It's an extremely useful spell. It was also one of your favorites."
The Ancient One led Fenris to a seat at the table. When he focused his eyes, he saw three exquisitely crafted wooden boxes resting there, each clearly worn by age.
"These are...?"
"Three little gifts. Open them."
The Ancient One smiled, and for once, there was a trace of anticipation on her face.
Fenris opened the three boxes one by one.
Inside them were a yellowed old book, a Sling Ring, and a pitch-black mechanical device he couldn't immediately identify.
"This is the notebook you left behind, the Sling Ring you used, and a machine that shoots webbing."
The Ancient One introduced them one by one.
"There's no need to explain the notebook and the Sling Ring. You can take them with you when you leave. If there's ever anything you don't understand, you can return to Kamar-Taj and find me at any time."
"I don't need to stay here to train?"
Fenris froze for a second. He had assumed he would need to remain at Kamar-Taj for a while, like Doctor Strange had.
"Of course not."
The Ancient One took a delicate sip of tea. "Magic is not your foundation. For you, it is only an embellishment."
"Your notebook records the spells you used most often and understood most deeply. Those are already enough for you. As for offensive magic, it has limited practical value in your hands. A basic understanding will do."
Fenris nodded and silently gave himself a little mental pat on the back.
"As for the third item..."
A glint of amusement passed through the Ancient One's eyes. "You once said Hank's first-generation model was not only difficult to use, but unbearably noisy. It tormented you for quite some time."
"This is the best version after many rounds of refinement. It also has a built-in guard mode. It's very powerful, and its special casing makes it resistant to radiation."
"It was extremely difficult to preserve, but back then, you insisted on leaving it behind no matter what."
As she explained, her eyes were unexpectedly full of nostalgia.
"Just how much did I hate Hank's first-gen model...?"
Fenris clicked his tongue and took the device from her. Its surface was covered in tiny signs of use, yet it still looked almost brand new overall.
It was obvious that it had been carefully protected and preserved.
Compared to the precious notebook and Sling Ring, this little gadget was actually what he needed most right now.
Sure enough, nobody understood him better than himself.
"Is there anything else?"
Fenris looked up at her with open expectation.
"Fenris, a path has to be walked by your own feet. My responsibility is only to point you in a direction, not to hold your hand and drag you forward."
"That was your own decision as well."
The Ancient One shook her head slightly and rose to her feet. "Come. We still have one more stop to make."
"One more stop?"
"If a catastrophe like this could be solved by learning a few insignificant spells, I would never have appeared before you in the first place."
Before Fenris could react, the Ancient One took his hand.
In the next instant, the Mirror Dimension began to change. With a crisp sound like glass shattering, Fenris's perspective rose sharply upward.
Everything on the ground rapidly shrank in his vision. Streets. Cities. Continents... Earth.
As light flowed around them, the surrounding space began to fold in on itself. Countless worlds, some similar and some utterly different, unfolded one after another before Fenris's eyes.
"These are the worlds beyond our own."
The Ancient One's voice drifted through his ears like a whisper.
"Some of them are beautiful, full of life. Others are unspeakably evil, filled with slaughter and savagery."
A flood of voices poured into his ears all at once. Joyful laughter mingled with furious howls of agony.
The images flickered.
At last, Fenris found himself standing in a universe steeped in decay and darkness.
In that vast expanse, planets resembled rotting giant cells, linked together by writhing tubes of many colors, all of it reeking of corruption and painted in grotesque hues too foul to look at directly.
The immense cosmos was packed with these bizarre celestial bodies. Far off at the very edge of vision, an enormous being like a human face floated there in still silence.
"This place..."
Fenris froze. The sight of it sent a chill crawling down his spine and filled him with instinctive revulsion.
"The Dark Dimension."
The Ancient One nodded, confirming his suspicion.
"Then... that thing is...?"
"Dormammu."
"Dormammu?!"
Fenris jolted, horror written across his face as he turned to look at the calm, composed Ancient One.
During the brief moment they spoke, Dormammu in the distance seemed to have sensed their presence. His eyes slowly opened, and his gaze fell upon them.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, a strange beam of light shot toward them from across the immeasurable distance with terrifying precision.
"Do not be afraid."
The Ancient One gently pressed a hand to Fenris's shoulder. His vision blurred, and in the next moment, he was back in the same reception hall as before.
On the table, tea fragrance drifted softly through the air, as though everything that had just happened had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Ancient One!"
Dormammu's furious roar still echoed in his ears, making it painfully clear to Fenris that it had been no illusion at all.
"I told you before: what Charles can offer you may allow you to keep growing stronger, but it is still not enough. It cannot give you the true power needed to reverse the future."
"But the place we just visited contains power without end, and every bit of it can be used by you."
A vivid crimson mark appeared at the center of the Ancient One's brow.
Fenris heard her say, word by word:
"Infinite dimensions mean infinite potential."
"The Dark Dimension will only be your starting point."
(End of Chapter)
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